Yes, Son! I Rescued R2-D2!
by SuperBear
Summary: A dimension-hopping father tells the best bedtime story ever, which begins like this: I never thought my visit to SaveMart would end with me in a lightsaber battle with Darth Vader. But that's what happened when Imperial stormtroopers took over the store, and I ended up in a detention cell with Han Solo and Princess Leia.


"Dad! What were you thinking?"

My son sat up in bed, tiny fists clenched.

"What did I do now, buddy?"

"The kids at school found out my middle name is 'Sky.'"

"And what'd they have to say about that, 'Luke Sky Walker?'" I asked with a grin.

He shook his little head. "Don't do that. Mom uses my middle name when she's really mad at me."

As I thought of that, I grinned some more.

"Come on, Dad. It's not funny."

"It's kind of funny." Adopting a more serious look, I sat down on the edge of the bed. "Anyway, what happened at school?"

Under his bowl haircut and tiny eyes, he sulked.

"Some of the kids thought it was cool. But Jeremy Hanson said, 'Hey, Walker, why'd your dad give you a dorky name like that? Is he a "Star Wars" nerd or something?'"

"We're geeks, not nerds." Here, I imparted my best fatherly wisdom. "It's a good idea to ignore the Jeremy Hansons of the world."

"Dad, I'm a kid. Do you know how hard that is?"

"Right. Sometimes I forget." With hands clasped on one knee, I leaned back, almost fell back, recovered. "There's an interesting story behind your name."

"Oh, great," he moaned. "This story again."

"It's a good story. It explains why 'Star Wars' is more than just a bunch of movies to me."

I held one hand up to the ceiling as I did my best Rod Serling impersonation, though it's unlikely Luke even knew who Rod Serling was.

"Let me take you back to another place, another time."

Luke wrinkled up his nose. "Wait a minute. Just to be clear. This doesn't involve Jar Jar Binks. Right?"

"Ugh. No! As I said, we're going to another time, another place."

He sighed. "Yes, I know. A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away."

"No. Well, yes. Eventually. But first we have to go somewhere else." With my hand in the air again, I spoke in a dramatic whisper. "We're going back to the year nineteen-eighty-one. To a place called...SaveMart."

"Oh, yeah. Right."

I never thought my trip to SaveMart would end with me in a lightsaber battle with Darth Vader. But that's what happened when Imperial stormtroopers took over the store and I ended up in a detention cell with Han Solo and Princess Leia.

But I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. Let's go back to when I was actually at SaveMart.

It was supposed to be just a normal day. But as I discovered later, the Force was at work that day.

All I wanted to do was buy some "Empire Strikes Back" bubble gum cards. But I found there were no cards on the shelves.

I thought to myself: Are there other "Star Wars" fans in town? If so, who are they? I just had to know.

So I approached the only cashier who was on duty.

Ha ha, Dad. You said 'doody.'

Du-ty.

The girl with long pink ponytails sat on the conveyor belt of the checkout. Her crossed legs bobbed up and down, and she wore striped legwarmers that were straight out of "The Wizard of Oz." You know, like the ones worn by the Wicked Witch of the East while she had her legs curled up under the house that landed on her. That was about the time the ruby slippers teleported to Dorothy's feet.

I remember that detail because I would soon be doing something like what those ruby slippers did.

I also remember because the girl was kind of cute.

Was the cute girl Mom?

No. Don't tell your mother.

I won't. Dad, have you ever thought how Luke Skywalker is like Dorothy? They both live with their aunt and uncle. Plus Luke is like Clark Kent because they both grew up on a farm.

Good points. We'll discuss all that later. For now, my story.

Okay. But it's not very exciting so far.

Just wait. The part where I meet the stormtroopers is coming up real soon.

As I approached the cashier, I didn't share my thoughts about legwarmers or ruby slippers. (Good idea, Dad.)

Instead, I blurted out, "Who bought all the 'Empire Strikes Back' bubble gum cards?" (Smooth, Dad.)

She stopped smacking her gum long enough to give me this weird look. What was that I saw? Fear? Alarm? Shock? Horror? Whatever it was, it wasn't her usual look of boredom mixed with mild scorn and contempt.

Maybe there was something seriously wrong at this SaveMart. After all, they had this weird cashier who wore too much mascara. And I swear I saw her with a voodoo doll once.

"I'll have to get a manager," she said.

She had a voice like the Annie Potts character in "Ghostbusters." When that voice got amplified over the PA system, she sounded a little scared.

When the manager arrived, he was huffing and puffing. He looked like he had been spending a lot of time sweating. Just from walking a short distance?

Maybe the guy needed to exercise while listening to "Physical" by Olivia Newton-John.

Or maybe, like I said, something bad was going on here.

"Come back to my office," he wheezed.

At the time, I figured the guy was just stressed. So I went with him.

On the way to the office, the manager kept looking back and forth. I thought how the guy kind of reminded me of Brian Doyle Murray who had been on "Saturday Night Live" with his brother Bill.

Once "Brian" closed the door, there was this voice behind me. It sounded like it was coming out of a walkie-talkie.

"Hold it right there!"

When I turned around, I was face-to-face, or face-to-helmet, with an Imperial stormtrooper. And he was pointing one of those big black rifles at me.

"They got here just before you did," the manager said.

What happened next is a little hazy. There were two stormtroopers and they took me out the back door. Parked behind SaveMart was a TIE Fighter.

How would a TIE Fighter stand up on the ground?

I'm not sure. Maybe it was just something like a TIE Fighter. .

Okay. Whatever. Then what?

I'm not sure what happened then. They knocked me out somehow. Punched me. Gassed me. Maybe both. In any case, the next thing I remember is waking up.

"Where am I?" I asked.

It turns out that after you pass out, that's actually the first thing you say when you wake up.

In this case, though, I wasn't lying on the ground. Instead, I was being hoisted upright (well, mostly upright) by the two stormtroopers. Or at least two guys in stormtrooper costumes.

Maybe I was groggy but I started thinking about when I entered this "Star Wars" contest. First prize was a chance to meet all the stars of the movies.

This, I thought, was just part of that contest, a great big publicity stunt, a way to surprise me. I'd won the contest and now I was on my way to meet all the actors in "Star Wars." .

If I'd been thinking more clearly, I would have realized a publicity stunt doesn't involve a TIE Fighter behind SaveMart. Or more importantly knocking someone out. Stormtrooper costumes or not.

Plus I was in binders. And where were all the reporters?

So here I was being hoisted or hauled along by the guys in stormtooper costumes, and they took me to a set that looked exactly like the bridge of the "Executor." There were even men in Imperial uniforms sitting at stations below us.

Again, this should have clued me in. Too elaborate.

You're kind of dense, Dad.

A little. But consider that I'd been taken by surprise and knocked out. I wasn't thinking clearly.

Okay. Then what?

Then, I met Darth Vader.

Or at least some guy in a Darth Vader costume. As he pointed a black-gloved finger at me, I just laughed.

"It is very fortunate that we found that portal leading to your world." The Darth Vader guy then waved his finger at one of the stormtroopers. "What is the condition of the portal?"

"Um," the stormtrooper said.

Stormtroopers say "um?"

Sometimes. In this case they do.

"Um." That walkie-talkie voice again. "Unfortunately, it closed after we returned, Lord Vader."

I thought I heard the stormtrooper-guy gulp. If he did, he was probably worried about getting choked. In fact, he put a hand to his throat. The other stormtrooper pulled it down.

Um, Dad? I don't think stormtroopers would act like that.

I'm taking a little dramatic license here.

Not that dramatic, Dad.

Here, the Vader guy turned back to me and crossed his arms.

"Nevertheless, it is fortunate we intercepted you. It seems you were trying to obtain classified information."

I worked hard to stifle my laughter. "'Star Wars' bubble gum cards, you mean? 'Classified information?' Okay. Sure. Whatever you say. Knock yourself out, 'Darth Vader.'" I made the quotation marks gesture with my fingers.

I thought you were in those handcuff things.

You can still do the quotation marks thing even in binders. My hands were in front.

One stormtrooper pushed me. "Show respect to Lord Vader!"

Maybe it was being shoved that knocked some sense in to me. But suddenly I realized something. This Darth Vader guy was talking in the voice of James Earl Jones. But they don't dub that in until later.

This was way too elaborate for a publicity stunt.

Somehow stormtroopers had crossed over into my world, and now I was in theirs.

I was actually in the "Star Wars" galaxy.

This guy in front of me was really Darth Vader!

And that's when I threw up all over him.

Whoa!

Whoa indeed.

With his black boots covered in my puke-

Gross!

-Vader made a growling noise. Much like the one he made when he was in a lightsaber battle with Luke in "Empire."

"Take him away!" the for-real Dark Lord shouted.

They took me.

I was in kind of a daze but I heard the stormtroopers say they had driven the Rebels away from Hoth and Cloud City. So I had some idea that I was in the "Star Wars" galaxy at some point after the events in "The Empire Strikes Back." Probably not long after. A few weeks or months maybe.

Other than that, I was so confused that the next thing I remember is being put in a detention cell.

With their walkie-talkie voices, the stormtroopers made some mocking comments. Not very intelligent ones either.

Like what? 'Neener-neener?'

Something like that.

The door to the detention cell slammed shut.

And there they were: Han Solo and Princess Leia.

I was still kind of hoping someone would yell "surprise," and it was all just a joke. Didn't happen.

Instead, there I was with Han and Leia.

I had to resist the idea to poke one of them with my finger to see if they were really real.

It's hard to explain what it's like to see the "Star Wars" characters for real. It's like when you see a celebrity and they don't look quite like they do on the screen.

Except Han and Leia did look the way they do on screen. Only, you know, three-dimensional.

Han wore a blue vest and white shirt with an empty holster. Leia wore an all-white outfit like the one she wore while running around on Cloud City. She had resorted back to her bun-rolls hairstyle.

Which made her a little less hot, I admit.

And I was just staring at them. Well, at her.

Like most guys, I had a crush on Carrie Fisher. So for a while, I stared.

For a while, they stared back.

Then Han Solo spoke his very first words to me.

"Don't stare, junior."

At first, I felt a little miffed. I didn't like how Han talked to Luke in put-downs. And now he was doing it to me.

With my cheeks on fire (not literally)-

Obviously.

-I finally managed to answer.

"I'm just a little surprised, shocked, that's all," I said. Understatement of the century! "To see you both here. Especially you, Han. You're out of the carbonite, huh?"

Like some fans, I thought Han would be out of the carbonite before the third movie. Of course, he could always end up back in it.

Now Han looked annoyed. "How do you know about all that? Are you one of Jabba's spies?"

"Or maybe a spy for the Empire," Leia said with one eyebrow up and arms crossed. Leia also looked annoyed and/or suspicious. "Who are you?" she asked coldly.

In retrospect, maybe not the best way to introduce myself. But if you met the "Star Wars" characters for real in such a weird and stressful situation, what would you say?

Wisely, I decided not to explain to them that they were fictional characters viewed on large white screens in another universe.

"Um." I struggled to think of something to say. "I'm with the Rebels. I'm here to rescue you."

"Good job," Leia said.

"I'm a Jedi, too!" I blurted out, raising a triumphant finger. I figured if I was going to lie, why not go all the way?

With a mocking skeptical look, Han crossed his arms. "Oh. A Jedi, huh? And how does that work, junior? There aren't any left."

More of the triumphant finger. "I'm a new one. If I had a lightsaber, I'd show it to you."

That's it, I told myself. Get yourself in deeper.

"I'm sure," Leia said as she also crossed her arms. Again.

There's nothing quite like Han Solo and Princess Leia looking at you like you're nuts.

As I crossed my arms to imitate them, I thought of something.

"Wait a minute!" I shouted. "No one bought those bubble gum cards. The stormtroopers took them!"

Oh, that didn't sound crazy at all.

More staring from Han and Leia.

Then they started bombarding me with questions to see what I knew. Thanks to my knowledge of "Star Wars" trivia, I was able to really impress them. I think.

Meeting Han and Leia soon lost its excitement. (Strange, huh?) After they got tired of asking questions, they started talking about Rebel business. Boring day-to-day stuff. Not the kind of high-level stuff a spy would care about at all and probably just made up anyway.

I'd had quite a day so I was able to fall asleep even on a hard metal detention cell bed.

At one point I woke up and saw Han and Leia sitting on the floor asleep. They both sat with their backs against the wall, heads tilted toward each other. Han had his arms around Leia. The princess drooled when she slept. So did Han. And they both snored. Loudly. I can't say if I did.

You do snore, Dad. I hear it from all the way down the hall.

I then noticed some kind of glowing green light. I looked for the source.

It was Yoda.

Or more like it was a special-effects glowing version of Yoda. Except where I was special effects were real.

As Yoda glowed, his green eyes were all big and wide.

"Oh, hey, Yoda," I said.

That's all you said?

I was very tired.

I understand, Dad. When I go get a glass of water in the middle of the night, I don't think too good either.

And you don't run into Yoda. But if you did, you'd find the little guy gets right to the point.

The great Yoda spoke.

"Strong with the Force are you. Open this door you can. If concentrate you will."

Now that I was hearing him in real life, Yoda didn't sound so much like Grover from "Sesame Street."

"You want me to open that door?" I gulped like that stormtrooper earlier. Or maybe I yelped.

Eyes wide open, a grinning Yoda nodded. "Have a natural ability with the Force you do. Drawn you here now the Force has."

Feeling a little more confident from hearing that, I closed my eyes to concentrate. What was that Peter Pan song? Think of good things, happy thoughts? Something like that.

I thought about "Star Wars." Specifically, I thought of the throne room scene when medals were given out. I imagined Leia giving me a medal and kissing me on the cheek. As I did, I kind of glowed inside.

When I opened my eyes, Yoda was gone but the door was open.

After a few seconds of just being amazed, I shook Han and Leia awake.

"Chewie, get us out of here!" Han shouted as he snapped awake. It was weird to think of him having nightmares and then waking up shouting. Just like characters on TV do. .

"Oh, my neck," Leia groaned.

"Good news, guys. We can get out of here."

It took them a few seconds to comprehend then they both ran out the door.

"Don't everyone thank me at once," I muttered.

When I stepped out into the corridor, there was no blaster fire like in the first movie.

"Will we be jumping into a garbage chute?" I asked Leia.

"Not this time."

"I guess if we were, you'd be yelling, 'Into the garbage chute, flyboy!'" I chuckled. Leia gave me this weird look. "That just sounds like something you'd say."

All was peaceful as Han moved to the end of the corridor.

It was quiet. Maybe too quiet.

Han motioned for us to move forward. When we stood next to him, I was amazed.

There were stormtroopers and Imperial officers with helmets off, belts and weapons on the floor. They were all sitting around a table playing cards. Fizzbin, I imagined.

That's a card game from an episode of "Star Trek" called "A Piece of the Action." (In case you were wondering.) I sometimes thought about what it would be like if the characters from "Star Wars" met the characters from "Star Trek."

Unfortunately, Captain Kirk and Spock didn't beam in to help here.

Would have been cool if they had.

Way cool.

Back to the stormtroopers playing cards. Was the ship so big they didn't have to fear Darth Vader or some bigshot officer dropping in unexpectedly?

Well, they did have TV screens above them to warn of a visit by the Big Boss.

Han turned to Leia. "I'm going in."

"Carefully," Leia whispered back.

Han flashed a smile. "Hey! It's me!"

I watched as Han crawled on the floor toward the table. As he did, I heard the stormtroopers say things.

"Hey. You hear something?"

"Ah, it's just the wind."

"No, wait. I just felt something brush past my leg."

"Maybe that thing in the trash compactor got loose again."

It was funny. Even with their helmets off, the stormtroopers still sounded electronic when they talked.

It could have been worse, I suppose. They could have been like a speaker at a drive-in that keeps cutting in and out with a lot of loud static.

At that point, Han jumped up, knocking the table over. He opened fire on the Empire guys. Once they were all down, he tossed Leia a blaster. She helped him blast the TV screens and other security devices around the room..

"Wow!" I said. "It's the Death Star detention center all over again."

Not for the first time, they stared at me.

"Can I get a blaster?" I asked eagerly.

Han looked less than enthusiastic while Leia said, "We still don't know if we can trust you yet."

"What about the thing with the door?"

"For all we know that could be part of a trap. This whole thing could be a setup." Han looked around at the unconscious Empire guys.

I looked at them, too. The stormtroopers' drinks were all over the floor. I'm not sure what they drink in the Empire. Looked like it might be that purple stuff I saw in the cantina scene.

"We need to find Luke," Han said. "Who knows what Vader's doing to him?"

Now we were outside the detention area heading down a wide corridor.

"What about the droids?" I asked.

"Luke first," Han said.

"The droids could help us find Luke," I pointed out.

"The droids are probably with Luke," Leia said.

I felt a little miffed. Why were the droids always being treated so badly? Weren't they heroes, too, part of the team?

You're weird, Dad.

A little. But I've got a point.

Yeah, and it's on top of your head. Like Mom always says.

Like I was saying, weren't the droids heroes, too? Didn't R2-D2 help blow up the Death Star?

Of course I wasn't sure what useful purpose C-3PO served. But he told R2-D2 stuff to do. Like "Shut down all the garbage compactors on the detention level." Together, Threepio and Artoo saved Han, Luke and Leia. Not to mention that thing that lived in the compactor.

Of course, R2-D2 fixed the "Millennium Falcon" by himself when the gang left Cloud City. And the little guy did that even though Threepio told him not to.. So again not sure how useful the golden guy was.

Still, I thought if I had the chance I should save both of the droids.

"Let's move," Han said. A little too gruff, I felt.

That's when I almost died.

A giant door slammed down just in front of me. One more step, and I would have been under it.

It took me a little while to recover from the shock. But now that I was separated from Han and Leia, I made my decision.

I would rescue the droids. Both of them.

First I had to get out of my jeans and T-shirt. If I didn't, I'd really stand out if I wasn't in a uniform. .

Next thing I know I'm standing over an unconscious guy and putting on an Imperial uniform over my clothes. (It was surprisingly chilly inside the "Executor.") Then I'm consulting a readout. After that, I'm driving around in this thing that's like a really big really fast golf cart.

The droids were with me.

Must have been the Force at work. If so, my natural ability with the Force that Yoda talked about apparently involved memory loss. Sometimes.

When C-3PO took over the driving, I watched a couple of officers sail through the air. There was some screaming and thumping, the sound of bodies hitting the floor.

"Oh, my!" the droid driver exclaimed.

Again, not sure what useful purpose Threepio serves. It's certainly not driving. I guess if needed he could serve as an interpreter between Vulcans and Kryptonians should they ever meet.

That'd be cool. (Loud yawn).

Try to stay awake, Luke. The big lightsaber battle is coming up.

Everything was kind of a blur. (And not the "Smallville" Clark Kent kind.) I remember using a blaster on a squad of stormtroopers blocking the way. Not to mention some officers who tried to jump the golf cart.

I think the Force helped me so I made direct hits on the bad guys without getting hit by any of them.

In any case, the droids and I found Han and Leia, and they had Luke. They were carrying him. Actually, more like he was hanging limp between them. He looked even worse than he did in "Empire" when he was hanging off that antenna at the bottom of Cloud City.

Or when he was upside-down in the ice cave of that Abominable Snowman. (Wouldn't it be funny if there was a Special Edition where Luke is held prisoner by the Abominable Snowman from "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer?" Luke? Son? You still awake?) Ice cave. Cloud City. Now this. Our Jedi friend Luke had been through a lot.

As I stood there basically looking sad and confused, Leia handed me a lightsaber. More like she thrust it into my hand. She also gave me a pointed look.

"You said you were a Jedi."

"I did? I guess I did." Who could resist those beautiful brown eyes?

"If you're on our side, this is your chance to prove it. Hold off the enemy."

"Oh, is that all I need to do?"

"Yes! Keep Vader busy while I get the 'Falcon' ready." Han spoke in an almost growling take-charge voice.

"Um, okay," I said. Then I thought. "Whoa. Wait. Did you say 'Vader?' As in Darth Vader?"

They were already gone. But the torture device used on Han at Cloud City was in the room. Vader must have used it on Luke. Obviously my Jedi friend was in no condition to take on Darth Vader again.

So I turned around to do just that. Here come Darth Vader marching toward me. I mean, the big guy is moving like he's really got a purpose.

And he's got his lightsaber up and ready, and I'm pretty sure he's going to take my hand off. Which I really don't want even if it means a really cool bionic hand afterwards.

Somehow my non-bionic hand went up and not only did I block Darth Vader's lightsaber I managed to bring my hand up and push the guy back. He went flying across the room.

As he crashed backwards into a wall, he made this growling-roaring noise. Quickly, he moved toward me, swinging his lightsaber again and again. Each time, I blocked his saber without even trying, without even thinking about it. As I did, I smiled and laughed. Mainly because I was doing all this automatically. Like my hand had a mind of its own.

"Whoo-hoo!" I shouted. I then did a somersault through the air and briefly tap-danced on Darth Vader's helmet. More growling noises followed. When I landed on the floor, I laughed loudly, almost like a super-villain, in fact. Darth, on the other hand, made another really loud growling noise.

I then swung at him again and again. As I did, I imagined this choir singing. Not a slow song. A really upbeat song.

"En garde!" I shouted.

All the while, my lightsaber is making that cool buzzing crashing noise whenever our lightsabers clash. It sounds like a really loud bug-zapper.

I felt all these really harsh vibrations but they were not hurting me at all.

Here's something strange. (Not the first thing, of course.) The music from the cantina scenes ran through my mind. As I hummed it out loud-"Dah-dah dah-dah dah-dah-dah!"-I noticed Darth Vader is moving back each time I bring my lightsaber crashing down. His hand was also staying down more and more. There were less growling noises, more confusion and panic noises.

I almost expected him to shout "WHAT?" like he did at the Death Star when Han showed up and his TIE Fighter started spinning around.

Next thing I know Darth Vader is down on the floor, making a lot of rapid breathing noises, his chest bouncing up and down.

"Need an inhaler there, Darth old boy?" I chuckled. I said something like that.

The for-real Dark Lord had one hand up in a kind of pleading "spare me" gesture.

As I stood over him with my way-cool lightsaber glowing and buzzing, I had this thought.

I could kill Darth Vader.

But no. If I did that, there would be no third movie. George Lucas would be very unhappy. So would millions of fans. But if in that third movie, Luke beat the Dark Lord, I could say I wore Darth Vader down for Luke.

Yeah, right. If I wanted to end up in a mental institution. I could be right next to Jack Nicholson wearing clown makeup while he tells everyone he's the Joker.

Another reason not to kill Darth Vader was that I might turn to the dark side.

The Force took over again, as I ran down a series of corridors faster than Steve Austin the Six Million Dollar Man. Without the bionic running noises, of course.

Next thing I know, I'm running up the ramp of the "Millennium Falcon." And even when we go into hyperspace, I'm still gasping from all the running. Guess the Force doesn't help with shortness of breath.

"Nice work, junior," Han said as I stood behind him in the cockpit.

Next to Han, Chewbacca roared his agreement or approval. (I can't really translate Wookie.) Apparently he'd been in another detention cell. Or maybe he hid in the "Falcon's" secret compartments. In any case, Chewie roaring was a lot better than Darth Vader growling.

With all of us safely aboard the "Falcon," we went to the current Rebel base. There we got Luke to the medical droid. It looked like the same kind you saw in "Empire Strikes Back."

While Han and Leia were taking care of everyday Rebel business, I got to shake hands with all the Rebels who work behind the scenes. They may not be front and center in the movies, but what they do is important. I guess that's true for all of us.

When Luke got out of the medical center, I told him a little about how I ended up aboard the "Executor."

He said it was probably the work of the Force. That I was needed there at that time so the Force arranged to get me there. Even if it had to use a portal and some lost stormtroopers to do it.

And the Force was probably part of the reason Leia chose to trust me with a lightsaber.

The Force would get me back home, too. At least that's what Luke told me.

"One thing to know about the Force is that when the time is right it could just whisk you back home. You'll just suddenly be gone."

He extended his black-gloved bionic hand. It was kind of weird shaking that.

"Thanks for all your help, Danny. May the Force be with you."

I got to go on a supply run with Luke, Han, Leia and the droids. Whoa! Cool! Imagine grocery shopping with the characters from "Star Wars!" Turns out they eat some pretty strange stuff. There was this gray slop with no flavor but it had all the nutrients a person needed. Guess you have to eat like that when you're a Rebel always on the run.

C-3PO shopped for all the droid parts. Guess he is good for something other than translating and running over stormtroopers..

At one point, I visited this outdoor bazaar with booths manned by guys who looked like Greedo. That's when I found this building. When I went in, I saw the inside was like Kmart and SuperValu, only with alien stuff on the shelves. That's where I found the strangest thing of all.

"Empire Strikes Back" bubble gum cards.

When I turned around, I was back in SaveMart.

The pink-haired girl was there and the big white-haired manager. When I stepped outside, I saw the familiar sights of home.

I felt like running through the streets shouting "Merry Christmas" or "Happy 'Star Wars' Day" or something.

I wanted to be like George Bailey in "It's A Wonderful Life." Maybe throw a snowball at the Emperor. Except he wasn't around. And there was no snow.

But couldn't you just see him shaking his fist at me and yelling, "You rotten kid! Get off my lawn!"

Yes, I could have run through the streets. But I felt tired so instead I sat down on the bench outside SaveMart. And then even though I don't remember going to sleep, I found myself waking up.

Blinking my eyes, I looked around. The sun seemed so bright on this May 4, 1981.

Had it all been a vivid dream?

When I looked up, I saw a white triangle-shaped craft flying away.

Was it actually the "Millennium Falcon?" Probably just an airplane.

At least I hoped it was just an airplane. I really didn't feel like fighting Darth Vader again.

My son was fast asleep already.

As I watched him sleep, I couldn't help thinking.

A portal had temporarily opened up, allowing the Empire to cross over into our world.

What if that portal opened up again? Or what if a new one opened?

What if someday there were stormtroopers in SaveMart again?

Author's notes:

The original version of this story is owned by George Lucas.

As a member of the "Star Wars" Fan Club, I submitted the original version of this story in the club's Creativity Contest. That story became the property of George Lucas.

While this new version retains many elements of the original story, it has new wording and new elements. So I don't think George Lucas will take legal action against me. Or worse, make me watch the prequels.

The story's original title was "Chaos Aboard The Executor." The "Princess Bride"-like framing device with the father and son was added to this new version.

My story took first place among all short stories submitted.


End file.
